SCOTS footballers face pay freezes or cuts as struggling SPL clubs strive to live within their means, according to a report.

Most top league clubs don’t expect to make any money this season.

And while bosses try to reduce their wage bills, many players and their agents are still demanding big salaries.

Accounting and business advice firm PKF said that could lead to a “widening gap” between wages here and those in England.

That in turn could threaten the future development of the game north of the Border as clubs here will struggle to attract top players.

PKF’s annual football survey, Leagues Apart, showed that two-thirds of Scottish Premier League clubs don’t expect to make a profit for the 2012-13 season.

Only 17 per cent said their financial situation was “healthy” – the lowest of any of the leagues questioned.

Two-thirds of SPL clubs depend on their principal shareholder to cover losses.

Six SPL teams took part in the study, along with clubs in the English Premier League, Championship and Leagues One and Two – a total of 62.

A third of SPL sides reported they would pay first team players the same as last year, while two-thirds said they would pay less.

However, transfer budgets will stay the same.

Charles Barnett, head of the football industry group at PKF, said: “There is clear evidence that clubs are absorbing some of the financial lessons of the last decade and are reducing wages to turnover to ensure they operate within a manageable ratio.

“However, it is also equally clear that players and their agents may not have absorbed this lesson and are continuing to demand wages which are untenable for the majority of Scottish clubs.

“The result is likely to be a widening gap between the wages players are paid in Scotland compared with their English counterparts.

“This will have worrying ramifications for the development of Scottish football as it is unlikely SPL teams will attract top players in the same way as clubs in England which will, in turn, widen the gap between wages in Scotland and England.”

SPL clubs’ income fell across the board in the 2011-12 season.

The biggest concern for the coming season was a drop in TV cash, followed by falling attendances at games due to the poor state of the economy.

A third of SPL clubs believe the state of the economy will cause all sources of revenue to be down in 2012-13, apart from corporate entertainment.

And Rangers dropping down to the Third Division may have made things worse.

Barnett said: “It is likely that the financial concerns of many SPL teams will be heightened with the loss of Rangers from the league.

“It is likely that some clubs will now be predicting an even greater fall in revenue and further worries about whether they can manage the gap between expenditure and income which the departure of Rangers has undoubtedly precipitated.

“The problem is that many SPL clubs were facing a difficult year anyway but the changed circumstances of the league mean those difficulties may have become exacerbated.

“Nobody can deny these are worrying times for Scottish football. But there may be something more positive which arises.

“For example, this season Rangers are substantially increasing revenues among Third Division teams.”